Mechanism for paying out hoisting lines



' July15,1941 J. c. sM ALTz Em 2,249,185

MECHANISM FOR PAYING. OUT- HOISI'ING LINES Filed Oct. 15, 1938 4 Sheets-Sheet l July 15, 1941.

J. C. SMALTZ ETAL MECHANISM FOR PAYING oU'r HOIS'TING LINES Filed Oct. 15, 1958 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 MIIIHIH m I II INVENTORS JOHN C. SMALTZ CARL 4. K4HLERTH y 15, 1941. J. c. SMALTZ ETAL 2,249,185

MECHANISM FOR PAYINGtOUT HOIS TING- LINES 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Oct. 15, 1938 LT 7 a IIIII'IIII'III'IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIA \Y INVENTORS JOHNC. SMALTZ CARL (KAI/(SETH BY y 15, 1941- J. c. SMALTZ EI'AL MECHANISM FOR PAYING-OUT HOISTING LINES- Filed 001:. 15, 1938 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 JOHN C. SMILTZ CARL M. KAII'LEQTH' AT RN Patented July 15, 1941 2,249,}85 v I MECHANISM FOR PAYING OUTHOISTING LINES John 0.. Smaltz, New York, N. Y., and Carl 2 Kahlerth, Newark, N. 1.1., assignors to McKiernan-Terry Corporation,'-'New poration of New Jersey York, N. Y., a cor- Applioation October 15, 1938, Serial N0.'235,204

' 7 Claims. (01. 254-176) The invention here disclosed relates to paying out hoisting lines and particularly lines used for such purposes as hoisting airplanes, boats or other objects floating in a seaway.

Special objects of theinvention are to prevent V a hoisting line from slipping back down the boom when the hook is light and there is not enough line out to balance the line runn ng from the vend of the boom down to the drum of the Winch,

without adding an overhaul or ponder weight,

which would increase the hazard of handlingsuch a line; to grip and to hold the line when the load is taken oil the hook; either by landing of the load or by breaking of the line; to pay out the line automatically, as fast as it is released by the winch; to grip the line in proportion to theneed; that is more firmly for starting and accelerating and. with less pressure as theline is gotten under way, thus both, to assure firm hold and to keep wear onthe line at a minimum; to automatically release grip when the load comes onthe line, or when constant-tensioning a floating object, or whenever the winch is put into I hoisting operation with a sufiicient amount of line out tumors than balance thejlength down theboorn back to the drum; and generally to provide a practical, desirable device of thisnature, of such size, form and weight. that it may be mounted and used with winches of. present approved design. I

The foregoing and other. desirable objects are.

changedin variousways as will'be apparentfrom the broad scope of the claims.-

Fig. 1. is a diagrammatic view showing the 'in-. ventionapplied to an airplane hoistingwinchon board ship..

' Fig. 2 "is a diagrammatic representation of-the cable gripping rollsandthe driving and control means therefor.

Figs. 3, 4 and 5 are sectional views of the actual.

mechanism, Fig. 3 being a horizontal sectional view of' the machine .on substantially the plane of line l -40f Fig. 4; Fig. 4 being-a vertical 'sec--. tional view as on line 5-5 of'Fig; 3L'andFig. 5;b.e';'- ing a vertical sectional view a's on line Bl-PB of l -lg, 6 is an enlarged:brokenjsectional detail-i s "the paying out"mechanism. In this illustration,

showing the special grippingcontours of the rolls.- Figs. 7, 8; 9'and 10 are diagrammatic illustrations of dilTerent positions of the grip sheaves and switch control parts.

In the general view Fig. 1, .a winch for hoisting airplanes aboard ship is illustrated having a hoisting line l5, extending from the drum It,

up over guide sheaves ll, between upper and lower grip sheaves l8, l9, guide sheaves 29, and

down-around the boomend sheave 2|, said line carrying a hook 22, for connection with an airplane or other object.

of the hook and length of line hanging from r the boom end is insufficient to balance the lengthof line extending from the boom point back to the drum and the sheaves are therefore in gripping engagement with the line. In broken lines, the'hook is shown lowered far enough for the weight of the hook and paidout line to more than balance the line-extending down the boom to the drumand the grip sheaves separated; as they would be, to release full control of the line to thewinch, in the hoisting direction. Inithe If the winch-is lowering, the sheaves will-be turning to pay out the lineand if. the winch is hoisting the' empty hook, it will simply overhaul-the: paying out devicew Y The length of hanging. line ;and hook whichv will balance the length of line running back to. thedrum willvaryz: In'typical installations;"this V has'been found to be about 29 feet andfor. convenience, this-may .be considered the necessary. length of line to balance, for purposesof the.

present disclosure.- In the illustration therefore,

with 29 feet of linepaidout, the gripping sheaves will be separatedl'and the line. be handled entirely .:-by the winch; in'the fhoisting direction. When' 7 on theline, the grip sheaves I a substantial load is are separated.

[Fig.2 illustrates diagrammatically the coop erating relations'hip of the various elements of both the upper and the lower g' ipsheaves are driven and the lower sheave 19 is raised or-'low ered toeifettthe gripping or release of the rope; or cable.. .."'Ihe driving .and'the gripping action. are both accomplished through a system ofdif ierentialF gearing operated from a torque ihotor 2,3,;which will rotate in one direction-to efiect' payin ut o e ab a dwh ch ay iover 1 hauled Vin-the pposi e dir ctio .w th utiniurm In the full lines, the parts are shown in the position in which the weight line gripping relation, the sheaves will simply" grip and. hold'thje line if the winch is:;stationary;-

when the cable is being taken in by the winch, above the 29 foot level.

Starting at the motor, the gearing is shown as comprising a bevel pinion 24, on the motor shaft engaging a bevel gear 25, on a rotatably mounted differential housing 26, which carries within it bevel pinions 2'1, in mesh with bevel pinions 28, 29, on the ends of the oppositely extending differential shafts 30, 3!. is shown as carrying a spur pinion 32, in mesh with a gear 33, on the shaft 34, of the'upper grip sheave and the lower sheave is shown as driven from the upper one through constant mesh deeptoothed gears 35, 35.

The second differential shaft 3!, isshown as having a spur pinion 31, engaging a gear segment 38, on a rock shaft 39,- having a crank 40, connected by a yoked link 4|, with a double One differential shaft 30,

The reaction element of the differential gear set, involving the second differential axle 3|, and associated parts, in .addition to effecting control of gripping pressure on the rope also is utilized to control brake magnet 50, and to effect control of the motor. For the latter purpose, the crank shaft 39, operated from the reaction element through gear 31, and segment 38, is shown as ,having a crank arm 5|, connected by link 52, with the handle 53, of a brake and motor controlling switch 54.

'Q'The winch unit which is indicated generally armed lever 42, pivoted at 43, and carrying the journal 44, for the lower sheave l9.

The arrows in Fig. 2 indicate directions of rotation and applications of force. With the motor turning in the direction shown, the differential case 26, rotated direct from the motor will,

through its gears 21, first have the effect of rotat ing or tending to rotate pinions 28, 29, of both differential axles 30, 3|, to turn the sheaves l8, IS, in the paying out direction and to turn the crank segment 38, to raise the lower sheave and thus cause it to lift the line into engagement with the upper sheave. The rope or cable as it is gripped between the sheaves then acts as a cushioning stop, limiting upward movement of the lower sheave and thus becoming or serving as the reaction element of the differential gear set, with the pinion 29, held stationary and causing pinions 21, then to act as planetary pinions rotating about pinion 29, and driving pinion 28, on the sheave driving differential axle 30 at full speed.

With the division of power through the differential at the beginning of operations, while both difi'erential shafts are turning, the sheaves will be brought up to speed gradually and as this is while the lower sheave is being raised to lift the rope into engagement with the upper sheave, the rope will be gripped and started gradually and the pressure applied required to firmly grip and accelerate it up to full speed will be automatically proportioned in accordance with the oppositionto movement offered by the rope. As full speed is attained, the pressure automatically eases off as the reaction load of the differential gearing becomes less. Thus unnecessary heavy gripping and wear on the rope is avoided and only that gripping pressure applied as'required for necessary traction.

To distribute the pressure and avoid crushing the rope, the sheaves may be constructed as shown in detail in Fig. 6, that is, with annular clearance grooves 45, in the hollows of the sheaves providing on each sheave angularly related separated gripping faces 46, which, in the cooperative relation of the sheaves form four-separate tracks gripping the rope on four sidesinstead of on two opposite sides as with conventional forms of sheaves.

In the detail views, Figs. 3, 4 and 5, the lever or yoke 42, carrying the lower sheave is shown as counterbalanced by a spring. 41, connected by link 48, with the outer end of such lever.' The lower sheave is normally supported in the lowered line releasing position, in the absence of reaction in the differential gear set. The first differential axle 30, is shown as carrying a brake'drum 48, which can be held by magnetic brake 50.

Patents 2,163,231, June 20, 1939, and 2,178,305,

October 31, 1939, controllable for load hoisting and lowering and for constant tensioning purposes.

Figs. 7, 8, 9, l0 illustrate different positions of the differential gear segment and associated Fig. 8 shows the position when the motor has been reversed to turn the segment 38, upwardly, thus to lower sheave IE to release grip on the rope and to snap switch 54, open to set the magnetic brake 50.

Fig. 9 shows the extreme limit of movement permitted by the gear segment coming up against a limit stop 8 l Fig. 10 illustrates the condition for again applying grip to the cable with the motor turning forward to lower the gear segment, the switch 54 being closed to release the brake and the lower sheave being raised to gradually grip the cable,

the full gripping effect being applied as the partsreach the Fig. 7 position.

By this invention, proper control of the rope is maintained at all times and when its services are not required, the payingout device is cut out of operation, but left ready to again assume control'of the rope when changing circumstances require.

When the control is set in the hoisting direction and there is either a substantial load on the line or more than the say, 29 feet of line out, the sheaves will be separated clear of the line.

The 'torque'motor in conjunction with the differential gearing is thus utilized to grip'the rope with varying pressure in accordance with the degree of resistance to-movement, to pay out the rope as required and, by reversal, to effect definiteseparation of the sheaves, leaving the cable free of any drag from these sheaves. The sheaves however, through'the deep teeth gears remain constantly in mesh, ready to both grip and drive the rope as soon as the torque motor starts in the forward direction. Lowering of the line with a light hook is always assuredagainst any possible friction that may develop in the guide sheaves, because of the fact that the paying out sheaves remain in gripping engagement with the rope when lowering, even though more than the estimated 29 feet of rope may be out.

' What is claimed is:

1. A paying out device, comprising sheaves, one relatively movable toward and away from the other to variablyrgrip or to fully release a rope therbetween, cooperating deep tooth gears connected with said sheaves and in constant mesh; regardless ofmovement; of one sheave in respect to the other, a reversible motor, drive connections from said motor to said sheave gears for efiecting rotation of the latter in a paying out direction and means for efiecting relative approach and separating movements of the one sheave in respect to the other on operation of the motor in opposite directions and including an arm supporting one sheave, a rock shaft operatively connected with said arm and differential gearing operated by said motor partly forming said drive connections to the sheave gears and connected to apply reaction to said rock shaft.

2. Line paying out mechanism comprising in combination, a reaction gear and a driven gear in opposed relation, planetary gears connecting said opposed gears and arranged to drive said driven gear through the reaction of said reaction gear, a motor for driving said planetary gears, a sheave operated from said driven gear, a cooperating line gripping sheave, a lever shiftable for moving said line gripping sheave toward said driven sheave and means operated by said reaction gear for shifting said lever to effect line gripping movement of said second sheave toward said driven sheave. I

3. Paying out mechanism comprising in combination, a differential gear set including interconnected driving, driven and reaction gears, cooperable line gripping sheaves, one shiftable toward and away from the other and one at least of which is operated from said driven gear, a motor for operating said driving gear and means operated by said reaction gear for effecting approachingmovement of said shiftable sheave toward the other sheave in accordance with reaction existing at the time.

4. Paying out mechanism comprising in combination, difi'erential gearing including interconnected driving, driven and reaction elements, a motor for operating said driving element, cooperable line gripping sheaves, one shiftable toward and away from the other and one at least of said sheaves being operated by said driven element and means operated by said reaction element for efiecting line gripping movement of said shiftable sheave in respect tosaid other sheave in accordance with reaction existing in the differential gear set at the time.

5. Paying out mechanism comprising in combination, differential gearing including interconnected driving, driven and reaction elements, a motor for operating said driving element, cooperable line gripping sheaves, one shiftable toward and away from the other and one at least of said sheaves being operated by said driven element, means operated by said reaction element for efiecting line gripping movement of said shiftable sheave in respect to said other sheave in accordance with reaction existing in the differential gear set at the time and switch means also controlled by said reaction element.

6. Paying out mechanism comprising in combination, cooperable line gripping sheaves one movable relative to the other for gripping or releasing a hoisting line between the same, and means for effecting the drive and line gripping and releasing movements of said sheave, including a motor, a differential gear set, including interconnected driving, driven and reaction elements, said driving element being operated by said motor, said driven element being arranged to operate at least one of said sheaves and said reaction element being connected to efiect relative line gripping movement of said movable sheave under the reaction of said differential gear set and to permit said sheave normally to remain in a line releasing position in the absence of reaction in said differential gear set and means for controlling said motor to initiate drive of said driven sheave and reaction in the differential gear set necessary to efiect gripping of the line by said sheaves.

7. Paying out mechanism comprising in com 

